Sunday 16 March 2009 (day 16)

After the long drive of yesterday we earned a rest-day. However, as usual, a rest-day means we get to lie under the car. After a good sleep in our tents next to the lake we decided to give the car a thorough clean: a sort of a spring cleaning. We unloaded all our belongings and started the useless job. Teamwork was the motto. Eowyn was the hardest worker although we were not sure what the end result would be, both for the mats she was working on as well as herself. Water for the cleaning was delivered by the naked young men who were watching and washing themselves in Lake Tana. Niels and Stanley continued to work on the car by refilling all the fluids in the gearbox, transfer box and diffs. After a good five hours of "rest", we were ready for a cultural event. We drove 30 kilometers to a monastery which was first built in the 14^th century and was visited by the son of Vasco di Gamma in the 16^th century. Unfortunately, he walked into a Muslim leader and was beheaded. Today, still many children are named after di Gamma. The monastery was an impressive site with all the colorful paintings of the orthodox Ethiopian Christianity. It became a bit difficult when Eowyn kept pointing at a painting of a boy drinking from the breast of a deer. There was not much we could say and tried to distract her with the Lion: also interesting. Inside the monastery was one round room which had five doors on the different sides (although there are no sides in a round room). We asked the guide if we could enter the room, but he said that only the Monastery leader has the key at any given time. Even the local population has never seen the inside, and it is thought that the holy ghost is inside. Maybe better if we leave the doors closed. In low second gear and diff lock engaged, we rolled back over the rocks to town. You can already guess the rest of the evening which consisted indeed of a fantastic portion of shiro at the Bahir Dar Hotel.